UN Report Shows Decreased Heroin Availability in Bulgaria

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has reported a decreased availability of heroin in Bulgaria. Photo by Bulgaria's Customs Agency

The availability of heroin in Bulgaria has decreased but new cases of HIV infection and the spread of HIV among people injecting drugs have increased, according to the annual report of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

According to the report, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), there were clear signs of decreasing availability of heroin in Ireland and the UK in end-October 2010 and the beginning of 2011.

The situation was similar in a number of other European countries, with Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland reporting decreases.

In 2011, Bulgaria, Greece and Romania registered a significant increase in the number of new cases of HIV infection and HIV spread among people injecting drugs.

Traditional producers of cannabis like Albania, the Netherlands, and the UK reported decreased volumes of seized cannabis, while Bulgaria, Turkey, Central Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, and parts of Scandinavia registered increased volumes of seized cannabis.

According to UNODC data on Europe, the use of cannabis in countries like Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, and Sweden, increased, in other countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe it remained unchanged, and in Western and Central Europe it decreased.

According to UNODC, in most European countries, including France, Germany, and the UK, drug use among women was at least half less frequent than among men.

Only three (Italy, Bulgaria, and Norway) out of a total of 28 European countries surveyed reported comparatively small differences in drug use among men and women.

In the past, the illegal production of amphetamine-type stimulants in Europe was mostly concentrated in the Netherlands and to a smaller extent in Belgium and Poland, but it has already spread to a number of countries, including Germany, Bulgaria, the Western Balkan countries, and the Baltic countries.

According to the UNODC report, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Poland continue to occupy leading positions by production of amphetamine-type stimulants in Europe.